1. The Field of the Invention
This application is directed to fishing tackle. More particularly, this application is directed to fishing lures having fibers thereon.
2. The Relevant Technology
Since ancient times, fishing has been relied on as a food source. In modern times, fishing remains a major food industry and has become popular as a sport and a means of recreation. Ancient records and archeological finds demonstrate that early anglers employed spears and hooks made from bone and wood in order to catch fish.
As time has progressed, the sophistication of fishing tackle has simultaneously evolved. Ancient hooks have evolved into sophisticated metal hooks with complex designs. Although use of natural bait, such as worms, salmon eggs, and cheese, is still a common form of catching fish, the use of artificial lures, including artificial flies and spinners has replaced many natural baits. Modern tackle and fly shops continually attract anglers anxious to find the bait, spinners and fly patterns which are most likely to catch large numbers and large sizes of fish.
The term "fishing lure," as employed in this specification and the appended claims relates to a vast array of fishing tackle including, by way of example, but not limited to, artificial flies, artificial spinners, artificial spoons, artificial bait (e.g., artificial simulations of fish, frogs, other amphibians, animals, insects, reptiles, salmon eggs, worms and other simulated food sources for fish), dry flies, wet flies, plugs, nymphs, streamers, hairwigs, fishing tackle commonly referred to as a "lure", and various additional objects having a hook and which are designed to stimulate the natural instinct of a fish to strike.
One feature of artificial lures which is typically employed to attract fish, particularly in flies and spinners, is the use of fibers. Such fibers include threads, feathers, and hair used to simulate wings, tails, legs, or other portions of an insect, fish, animal or other object. Such fibers are typically placed onto the substrate body of a spinner or fly through the use of manual fly tying or through mechanical methods. However, conventional devices and methods for creating fishing tackle with some degree of fibrous covering are tedious and complicated and typically fail to uniformly and densely coat a desired lure substrate body.
In addition to typical fishing lures having fibers thereon that are made by hand, others are made by sprinkling fibers onto an adhesive covered lure substrate body. In such gravity sprinkling, the fibers are deposited by being dropped onto a substrate body. Such gravity sprinkling tends to form flat, matted fibers. Varying portions of each individual fiber adhere to the substrate body. Furthermore, such fibers are typically not uniformly and densely deposited. Flat, matted fibers tend to inhibit the formation of dense fiber coatings. The central body portion of the fibers and/or both of the opposing ends of the fibers can become adhered to the substrate body. This can prevent other fibers from adhering to the substrate body. Moreover, sprinkling of fibers limits the process to preparing only one side or area at a time, since such sprinkling relies on gravity.
Some anglers have developed the ability to identify the feeding patterns of particular species of fish and/or the hatching patterns of particular insects. It is not uncommon for these anglers to initially examine the bank of a stream or river, such as by reviewing a sample of the soil on the bank. These anglers then determine the lure which is most likely to be successful (such as an artificial fly matching the flies which are hatching and floating on the surface of the stream) given the conditions of the stream or river that day.
Since fishing conditions can even change during the day, it is almost impossible to predict with perfect accuracy the fishing lure which will be the most successful for a particular fishing expedition at any given time. Consequently, anglers typically carry various fishing lures in their tackle box in anticipation of varying conditions.
Some anglers even carry the building materials for lures with them as they leave their vehicle and walk to a particular fishing hole. Some of these anglers examine the conditions of the fishing hole during that time of day, then tie a fly, for example, which is believed to be the most likely to be successful for them during that particular time of day.
The dedicated angler often enjoys the challenge and thrill of tying an appropriate fly while standing in slippery waders on the bank of a river. However, this already complicated process can be particularly difficult for the novice, anglers with arthritis, or those who have trouble seeing and handling small, delicate fibers. This process is further complicated by the necessary use of sharp, sometimes barbed, hooks intended to hook fish, but also able to snag the unwary angler.
Sometimes anglers do not know which lure they should use until they are in chest deep water wading in the middle of a rushing river. Typical anglers wear pocket-laden fishing vests with different lures in organized compartments in an attempt to avoid the often tortuous, slippery, and time consuming path back to a tackle box on the shore. However, it is not always possible to predict which lure to place in the vest and tying a particular fly in the middle of a rushing river is a challenge if not impossible even for experienced anglers. Such fly tying generally requires the use of a fly tying vise or other holder and a variety of different components and tools. Thus, wading anglers are typically limited to the lures already in their vest.
In addition, dry fly fisherman struggle in an effort to keep their artificial flies dry and floating on top of the water. Flies which become wet after a series of casts tend to sink, thus preventing the effect of a surface floating fly desired by the dry fly fisherman. In an attempt to keep their fly dry, dry fly fishermen apply a water repellant/floatation enhancing material to the fly or dry their fly using back and forth casting strokes outside of the water. However, the repellant typically wears off over continual uses and additional back and forth casting strokes takes time which could be otherwise used with the fly on the water and can result in frustrating snags on the shore.
There is therefore a need in the art for fiber-coated fishing lures which are convenient to manufacture and use and which effectively stimulate the natural instincts of fish to strike. There is also a need in the art to enable an angler to conveniently and efficiently form a selected fiber-coated fishing lure within a moment's notice.